on a Tamaki Hiroshi high

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A second lead and a diplomat

Just a quick update on casting news. Tamaki Hiroshi has been cast in two dramas – Kyou wa Kaisha Yasumimasu, which will begin in October, and a Japanese adaptation of Agatha Christie’s Murder on the Orient Express. The latter is a two-part New Year special, and is chock-full of stars. Tamaki will play a diplomat named Ando, whose wife is played by Anne. I’ve never read the book, but it’ll be good reason for me to check it out now. I hope Tamaki’s role won’t be too small, since there are just so many people in it, but it’s still a good thing for him to be in this production. The pompadour took a bit getting used to, but ultimately I think he looks handsome anyway, heh. Check out aramajapan and Dorama World for more details and a list of the stars.

Kyou wa Kaisha Yasumimasu, meanwhile, is a romantic comedy whose plot gives me the shivers down the spine. Poor Tamaki is stuck in second-lead territory here – he plays Asao Yu, the CEO of an Italian food company, who is interested in Aoishi Hanae (Ayase Haruka), a plain office lady with zero experience in relationships. But Hanae somehow has managed to land herself a boyfriend (Fukushi Sota) nine years younger despite being utterly clueless in the dating game. And Yu happens to like her for… some reason that escapes me right now. This is totally the plot of the atrocious Last Cinderella, which was so bad I dropped it within three episodes. I have alua‘s word that Fukushi Sota is a middling actor (he looks middling too), but I doubt the drama will pair Yu and Hanae together, even though the manga from which it is adapted is as yet unfinished.